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Executive Advisory Committee

Linda Y. Rivas

Linda Y. Rivas was born in Mexico and raised in El Paso, Texas since the age of 4. Linda attended The University of Texas at El Paso and completed her studies with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Legal Reasoning. She attended law school at Loyola College of Law in New Orleans. During law school, Linda clerked with the Department of Justice, Executive Office of Immigration Review under Judge Wayne Stogner. At the beginning of her career, Linda advocated for children in the child welfare system as an attorney ad-litem under the supervision of Attorney Thomas Stanton. She went on to become the West Texas VAWA (Violence Against Women’s Act) Manager for the Texas Civil Rights Project in El Paso, Texas until 2014. Linda is currently the Executive Director and Managing Attorney of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center, a 32-year-old organization dedicated to the legal needs of low-income migrants. Las Americas mission is dedicated to asylum seekers, family reunification and advocating for the dignity and rights of all migrants. Linda is a co-founder of the Borderland Immigration Council (BIC). In the summer of 2016; BIC, a local group of attorneys, activists and advocacy groups formed to help address the dire situation of due process abuses, family separation and abuse of discretion that immigrants and refugees face during the course of their legal immigration cases. In 2018, Linda represented and led efforts to reunite families who were separated as a result of the zero-tolerance policy. This year, Linda and her Las Americas team are leading the way to fight against the harmful "Remain in Mexico" policy, as they cross the border to help ensure due process for migrants forced to wait in Mexico for their asylum hearings. Linda’s work has been featured in various national media outlets, including: The Rachel Maddow Show, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, NPR, PBS, Texas Tribune, Harper’s Bazaar and more.